AIIM international veröffentlicht in regelmäßigen Abständen Marktstudien und Trendberichte, die auch für Europa und Deutschland relevant sind. In den letzten drei Monaten erschienen Studien zum Thema Information Governance, Datenschutz, eIDAS, Information Management, Content Analytics und ECM in der Cloud.

In diesem Artikel werden kurz 6 aktuelle AIIM Studien und White Paper vorgestellt:

• Information Governance: too important to be left to humans
• Data Privacy – living by new rules
• Harness the Power of the Cloud to Amplify the Value of Enterprise Content Management 
• Information Management – 2016 and Beyond
• E-Signatures in Europe: Understanding the legal requirements for proof of intent
• Content Analytics

 

Information Governance: too important to be left to humans (Dezember 2015)

Information Governance ist einer der aktuellen Schwerpunkte der AIIM Aktivitäten. Information Governance geht weit über das Thema Records Management hinaus. In der Executive Summary (Download bei AIIM) der 28seitigen Industry-Watch-Studie werden aktuelle Themen von Automatisierung, Cloud, E-Discovery und Records Management angesprochen.

 

 

Inhalt:

• About the Research
• Introduction
• Key Findings
• Drivers for Information Governance
• Records and IG Maturity
• Storage Reduction and Data Retention
• Auto-Classification
• Cloud
• Cloud Benefits
• E-Discovery
• Opinions and Spend
• Conclusion and Recommendations
• Appendix 1: Survey Demographics
• Appendix 2: General Selective

Die "Keyfindings" der Studie "Information Governance: too important to be left to humans":

IG Drivers and Issues

• In the light of recent leaks, hacks and email issues, IG is very high on the senior management agenda for 28% of organizations, and 53% have new IG initiatives. 57% of respondents say senior management are only interested when things go wrong
• 51% have had data-related incidents in the past 12 months, including 16% suffering a data breach – half from external hacking and half from staff. Staff negligence or bad practice is the most likely cause of data loss (20%).
• 41% describe their email management as “chaotic”. Of the rest, 16% have fixed delete-all policies and 19% keep all emails. Only 24% apply value-based retention policies.
• 45% of respondents agree that the lack of information governance leaves their organization wide open to litigation and data protection risks. 22% reported negative financial impact from cases that hinged around electronic records, compared to 9% with positive impact.
• 60% of respondents agree that automation is the only way to keep up with the increasing volumes of electronic content. 21% are already using automated declaration or classification of records, and 26% have new projects under way.
• The biggest drivers for IG are compliance (61%) and preventing data losses (51%), then creating searchable knowledge (48%) and reducing storage requirements via defensible deletion (35%).

IG Maturity

• The volume of paper records is increasing in 33% of organizations, and decreasing in 39%. This net difference of 6% deceasing compares to 10% increasing in 2014. The largest organizations (5,000+emps) are making most progress (21% net decreasing).
• 14% have a mature view of information governance across all electronically stored information with a further 22% recently re-aligning to that view, and 22% planning to adjust in the next 12 months. 31% still have divided responsibilities between IT and RM , and 12% are still in the paper-only world.
• 15% of organizations have enterprise-wide IG/RM policies, plus 28% with mixed maturity across departments or regions. 36% of the smallest organizations have no IG policies, or just have vague plans, but the same is true for 10% of the largest.
• Information retention, access security and data protection are covered by most IG policies, but only 47% cover mobile access and mobile devices, including BYOD (39%). Only 36% have specific policies for cloud-based content sharing.
• Enforcing the IG policy once created is the biggest issue for 41%. Getting the right people interested and involved, particularly senior management is the next issue (39%).

Storage Reduction and Data Retention

• As well as replacing file-shares with ECM, 22% are considering a cloud model to reduce storage costs, and 25% are automating retention, deletion and data cleaning. 25% will just go on buying more discs.
• 37% are seeing storage volumes and costs increasing, 7% rapidly, but 42% are holding costs level. 20% are achieving reduced costs, including 10% with reduced volumes.
• Only 11% of network file-shares, 30% of SharePoint/ECM systems and 37% of scanned image archives are being operated with effective retention period management. But this only rises to 67% of dedicated RM systems, compared to 74% for paper records. .

Automating IG

• 18% are using automated classification at the point of ingestion to ECM, RM or email systems, and 15% within a workflow or process. 8% are trawling legacy content for metadata improvement and 13% processing migrated content.
• 34% feel that automated classification is more consistent than humans, including 20% who feel it’s more accurate too. 48% prefer the idea of machine prompt with human review.
• The biggest benefits given for auto-classification are improved searchability (63%) then improved productivity (43%). Defensible deletion and compliance are cited by 37%, and adding value to dead content by 30%.

Cloud

• 30% are committed to cloud for records storage, with a further 36% waiting for security and reliability to mature. Only 10% say definitely not. Adoption is remarkably consistent across different sizes of organization.
• Cost saving is the biggest driver for cloud (66%), then business resilience (49%). Easier crossenterprise access and adoption is cited by 42%.

E-Discovery

• 50% rely on manual search for e-discovery across electronic and paper records. 14% have a dedicated e-discovery application within or across systems.
• 54% of the largest organizations will have multiple legal holds applied per year. But so will 11% of the smallest.
• Only 37% of SharePoint systems are operating with legal hold, and 20% of file-shares, cloud or otherwise. Only 50% of email servers or email archives have legal hold.

Spend

• Data clean-up and migration tools show the greatest increase in organizations intending to spend more. Then automated classification and email management. RM and compliance staff levels are set to increase, as is spending on IG training.

 

Data Privacy – living by new rules (Januar 2016)

Privacy, Datenschutz, hat in den USA einen ganz anderen Stellenwert als in Europa und in Deutschland. Daher ist es sehr interessant – gerade angesichts der europäischen Datenschutzgesetzgebung – hier einen globaleren Überblick zu erhalten, der auch schwerpunktmäßig die Situation in den USA reflektiert. Die erwähnte Safe-Harbor-Vereinbarung wurde gekündigt und soll durch ein neues Abkommen ersetzt werden. Die 27seitige Executive Summary der Industry-Watch-Studie steht AIIM-Mitgliedern kostenfrei im Download auf der AIIM-Webseite bereit. 

 

Inhalt:

• About the Research
• Introduction
• Personal Content and Information Governance
• Data Vulnerabilities and Loss
• Security for Cloud and DPO Services
• Storing Data on Europeans Outside of Europe
• GDPR Requirements
• Data Protection and Data Quality
• Opinions and Spend
• Conclusion and Recommendations
• Appendix 1: Survey Demographics
• Appendix 2: Summary of GDPR
• Appendix 3: Selective Comments

 

Die "Keyfindings der Studie "Data Privacy: Playing by New Rules":

Governance of Personal Data

• The operations of 38% of organizations surveyed are highly dependent on sensitive personal content, eg, healthcare, financial, claimant, etc. 33% have some sensitive customer or client data. 20% have just basic HR content.
• 36% of smaller organizations, 43% of mid-sized and 52% of large organizations have reported a data breach in the past 12 months. 19% reported a loss due to staff intent and 28% from staff negligence, compared to 13% from external hackers.
• 26% suffered loss or exposure of customer data and 18% lost employee data. As a consequence, 10% received action or fines from the regulator, 25% saw a disruption to business and 18% a loss of customer trust.
• 24% of respondents feel that their senior managers do not take the risks of data privacy breaches seriously. 13% consider that operational considerations override compliance.
• 34% feel that social networks undermine data privacy rules and 43% agree that over-zealous ID checks have a negative impact on customer experience. 68% would like to see governments encourage stronger, tamper-proof encryption.

Security and Cloud

• 72% of respondents feel that security measures taken by cloud providers are better (44%) or the same (28%) as their own. 15% don’t use cloud or SaaS because of data protection concerns.
• 31% need cloud data centers to be in-country or in-region. 18% would use a hybrid model to protect PII. 73% would like to see cloud providers do more to re-assure data controllers.

Storing Data on Europeans Outside of Europe – Safe Harbor

• Of the 15% of responding organizations storing data on Europeans outside of Europe, most are storing HR records (53%) or using offshore data centers (24%). 24% use SaaS payroll or HR apps, and 18% use SaaS for CRM or sales.
• 46% are (or were) using Safe Harbor agreements to comply with data protection requirements for European citizens, although not exclusively. Standard Contractual Clauses are used by 62%, and individual consent by 46%.
• 11% consider the recent European Court ruling on Safe Harbor to be a disaster. 67% are placing increased reliance on other measures. 33% are waiting for a renegotiation of Safe Harbor, or clarification through the GDPR

Storing Data on Europeans Within Europe – GDPR

• 37% of those storing Europeans’ data are not familiar with forthcoming General Data Protection Regulations, including 11% who (mistakenly) think it will not apply to them. 11% are making changes now, and 12% are already in good shape.
• The right to be forgotten raises the biggest issue for 41% of our respondents, as will email addresses being considered personal data. Being able to provide an electronic copy of personal data is an issue for 36%, and data export restrictions for 32%.
• 35% are expecting GDPR to have a financial impact, including 9% where it will be considerable. 39% are of the opinion that harmonizing European regulations will cost businesses less in the long term.

Encryption and Correction

• 62% do not encrypt email addresses, and 25% do not encrypt credit card data. 64% claim to encrypt all PII, rising to 75% for sensitive personal data.
• Persuading staff when and how to use encryption is the biggest issue, then dealing with forgotten passwords or lost 2-factor devices. Dead or inaccessible content is cited as an issue by only 10% of organizations.
• 20% rely on metadata and content types to drive security, but half admit to poor metadata standards. 18% are already using metadata correction tools, with a further 13% having immediate plans to do so.
• 46% rely on passwords to secure content in place. Only 7% use in-document security.

Spend

• Mobile device security is set for the biggest spend increase, along with data security products and then encryption. 14% plan to increase spend on external staff training.

 

Harness the Power of the Cloud to Amplify the Value of Enterprise Content Management (Februar 2016)

Dieses AIIM White Paper beschäftigt sich mit den Implikationen des Einatzes von ECM Enterprise Content Management in der Cloud. In dem 9seitigen Strategiepapier geht es im Wesentlichen um die Akzeptanz und die strategische Ausrichtung des Einsatzes von ECM als SaaS aber auch als Private-Cloud-Lösung, Das Whitepaper kann kostenfrei heruntergeladen werden (Download bei AIIM).

 

 

Inhalt:

• About the White Paper

• Process used and survey demographics.

• Introduction

• Taking Control

• The Culture of Cloud

• Benefits of Cloud

• Opportunity Exists

• Conclusions and Recommendations

• References

 

Die "Introduction" mit der Zusammenfassung des Whitepaper "Harness the Power of the Cloud to Amplify the Value of Enterprise Content Management":

As cloud applications continue to mature in both feature and security strength, business leaders are becoming more comfortable with making them part of their digital transformation strategy. The discussion is now turning from “should we use cloud” to “how and where can we best use cloud.” In today’s digital world, remaining competitive and relevant requires agility and the ability to meet your customers’ needs in near real time. When information or action is required, those who have the ability to respond immediately and provide that information gain clear competitive advantage. Enter ECM:

• 67% of organizations polled by AIIM state that ECM/DM (Document Management) is mission-critical to their responsiveness.
• 54% cite RM (Records Management) and 40% capture and workflow as mission critical
• A third indicate they would suffer serious disruption after an outage of just 1 hour, and 58% would struggle after half a day of downtime.

It would seem that an excellent entry point into the cloud is ECM. Sixty-seven percent of respondents indicate that ECM has mission critical status, and a third state downtime greater than an hour would cause serious disruption to the business. The extension of ECM to the cloud becomes the logical step forward for a digital transformation that ensures content is consistently available, accessible, and shareable.

AIIM Research finds that nearly three-quarters of those who have made the move to cloud are saving money, though 15% say they did not move to cloud simply to save money, instead pointing to the key benefits of improved access and collaboration.1 Deploying ECM in the cloud can offer the flexibility and secure access to content that is needed, providing a means to access vital information from any device, any location, and at any time day or night.

 

Information Management – 2016 and Beyond  (März 2016)

Das eBook zu den Trends im Information Management ist die interessanteste der hier aufgeführten AIIM-Publikationen. Sie beschäftigt sich mit den aktuellen Trends und beleuchtet damit auch die Diskussion, die aktuell zu der Ausrichtung des Verbandes geführt wird. Es fasst die Ergebnisse verschiedener Studien zusammen, ohne jedoch einen Ausblick darauf zugeben, wie es in der Branche weitergehen soll. Das 27seitige eBook kann kostenfrei von der AIIM-Webseite heruntergeladen werden.

 

Inhalt:

• Introduction
• Sharepoint
• ECM
• Content Anlytics
• Mobile and Cloud
• Paper-free
• Information Governance
• Data Privacy
• Conclusions and References

 

Die "Introducation" des eBook "Information Management – 2016 and Beyond":

Changes in the Information Management Industry

2015 brought about some interesting changes in the information management industry. Mergers, and acquisitions like that found in Dell and EMC, and partnerships formed like that of IBM and Box, potentially change the technology landscape of information management and impact the way organizations operate. Along with watching these types of activity, AIIM Research this past year focused specifically in the areas of SharePoint, ECM, Content Analytics, Mobile and Cloud, Paper-free environments, Information Governance, and Data Privacy.

SharePoint is still viewed as an essential tool yet many organizations indicate their SharePoint projects are stalled and failing to meet expectations. This is perhaps due to a lack of focus and direction as to the business problem SharePoint will address.

ECM is now considered vital for businesses and down time seen as having a major negative impact. Where once ECM was a nice to have, in 2016 it is considered a mission-critical part of business operations. It is seen as the place where vital business information is housed, and access to it must be maintained at all times.

Content Analytics applications have also entered the spotlight in a greater way. Businesses are turning their attention to analytics for inbound routing and text recognition for content classification and metadata correction, improved search and knowledge extraction, and to provide business insight. The latter being one of extending content use to a greater audience and identifying recipients who have the need for it based on specified user/case profiles.

Mobile and Cloud continue to be in discussions with a strengthened tone of being part of the bigger information eco-system and IT infrastructure. Where once these were viewed as non-essential elements, businesses are now considering the risk factor of unauthorized use and the benefit of sanctioned and vetted cloud and mobile options. 

Paper-free, while not a new concept, is gaining momentum with many organizations and for different reasons that those of the past dealing with storage alone. Businesses have come to realize that capturing information, whether digitizing the physical or digitally born, at the first touch-point of a process, brings this information under corporate control and into a workflow sooner, more securely, and readily available for action to be taken.

Information Governance has taken center stage in way it has not before, brining about a stronger awareness amongst business leaders that more and tighter control is needed over their information and information practices than ever before. Information Governance is now seen to address the holistic organization by addressing people, process, information and technology. 

Data Privacy, due to the number of security breaches reported in all markets ranging from healthcare, to retail, has become a hot button for many businesses and consumers. While governance and technology are essential elements of a solid information eco-system, the goal and one of the key drivers is data privacy – keeping information secure, the environment compliant with legal, industry, and regulatory guidelines, and accessible to only those who have proper authorization.

Information Management must look at the business, organization, and operations with a holistic view. People, process, technology, and information need to be addressed in concerted not a siloed approach. The following pages will highlight AIIM’s findings in each of the areas above, and conclude with how we see the world of information management moving into 2016. If you would like the full versions of any of the reports cited here, we encourage you to visit the AIIM website at www.aiim.org/research and request a copy for download.
 

Die Zusammenfassung ("Conclusions") des eBook "Information Management – 2016 and Beyond":

Operational requirements for better information management practices are increasing due to challenges in meeting rapidly changing regulatory, legal, and industry requirements, and the need for strengthened security and access controls.

User demands for business information systems to mimic those used in our personal lives, finds business organizations seeking ways to enhance the customer and employee experience through the incorporation of mobile device us for the purpose of capturing information, engaging in operational processes, and collaborating with business colleagues.

This leads to the discussion of paperless processes, a elusive goal for many organizations, though progress is being made. Increased focus on intelligent information management practices has organizations assessing what information they hold, where it is being used, and how it could be used.

This brings attention to the use of content analytics to help identify and classify information in ways that support sound management practices while at the same time making this information findable and available beyond its original purpose. While SharePoint remains a discussion point for many organizations, there are still gaps to be  filled in this platform.

As SharePoint 2016 enters the market and increased emphasis is placed on cloud based apps like Office 365, organizations are still struggling to find the right blend to meet their needs. While talk of enhancements surface, it is still obvious that there is a strong need and opportunity for add-on products to enhance SharePoint and bring interoperability to a level that is both rapidly installable and usable.

2015 also saw an increased emphasis on the need for data protection and information governance. The reality is settling in that while technology provides some great capabilities, the focus must be on people, process, and policy first with technology in place to support them. How information is captured, managed, and protected begins with knowledge of operational, legal, regulatory, and industry requirements. Policies, procedures and training on the need for and adherence to these policies and practices is essential. Technology then becomes the tool to enable the user community to comply with these rules.

Looking at 2016

In my view (Anm.d.Redaktion: John Mancini), in the year ahead, it is likely we will see continued merger and acquisition activities within the supplier communities. There will be extensions of supplier services, beyond what they are normally recognized for providing. This will be due to a need to reposition themselves as part of a more holistic solution rather than a “box” solution. 

Emphasis will turn more toward information and content reuse as well as the design aspect of content creation. The mantra of write-once reuse-many will grow louder as businesses learn how to intelligently use their information assets for maximum gain. In parallel, use of content analytics technologies will grow in an effort to properly identify current information assets, and remove ROT (Redundant, Out dated, and Trivial) information that takes up resources and potentially places the organization at risk.

These technologies will also be leveraged to uncover and identify opportunities as well as enhance the customer experience through automated distribution and recommendations.

Information governance, security, and data privacy will continue to be on the operational radar in an effort to prevent data breaches, strengthen compliance positioning, and ensure the integrity of corporate information assets is maintained.

As organizations push in this direction, gaining greater control, operational processes will become more digital in nature and less paper intensive. Capture of information, both digital and physical, will increasingly occur at first touch-point where it sill be classified, stored and injected into relevant automated workflows for processing.

2016 will sharpen organizational focus on what, when, where, how, and why information assets ar  related and used. Creation for the sake of creation will fade, as businesses come to realize that a multidimensional approach to information management – from creation to destruction – can reap greater rewards than imagined. As data mining brought about a new era of business intelligence, so too can an information management ecosystem that is planned, designed and maintained.
 

E-Signatures in Europe: Understanding the legal requirements for proof of intent (März 2016)

Unter Mitwirkung von KOFAX entstand das AIIM White Paper zu elektronischen Signaturen in Europa, dass sich insbesondere mit den Auswirkungen der europäischen Richtlinie eIDAS beschäftigt, die am 1.7.2016 europaweit in Kraft tritt. AIIM macht mit dem Whitepaper und einem dazugehörigen Webinar deutlich, dass auch der europäische Markt im Fokus des internationalen Verbandes steht. Um in den verschiedenen Nationen ins Details zu gehen, ist die Übersichtsstudie allerdings zu dürftig. Das 12seitige Whitepaper kann auf der AIIM-Webseite kostenfrei heruntergeldaden werden. Auf Slideshare gibt es die Folien des zugehörigen Webinars.

 

Inhalt:

• About the White Paper
• Introduction
• Understanding E-Signature Regulations
• The Impact of eIDAS
• Characteristics of a Trustworthy E-Signature
• E-Signature Examples in Europe
• Conclusion
• Recommendations & References

 

Einführung ("Introducion") des White Paper "E-Signatures in Europe: Understanding the legal requirements for proof of intent":

Most business organizations have to meet the increasing expectations of today’s connected, mobilesavvy customers who want to interact on all channels. From their perspective, business transactions should be executable anytime, anywhere and must be simple and straight. Employees increasingly expect the same from internal workflows. For both customers and employees, printing a document to capture a signature for proof of intent feels increasingly odd and is seen as slowing the business process to a crawl. AIIM Research finds confirms this to be the most common reason to print paper.Despite the fact that E-Signature technology is more than two decades old, with the first European Union E-Signature Directive in place since 1999, the adoption of signing without paper in the private sector has been slow for various reasons. Multi-national businesses seeking a standardized E-Signature approach across their various regions quickly found substantial disparities of E-Signature regulations across Europe. This caused Enterprise Architects in the UK for example, to struggle in understanding and addressing the legal and regulatory compliance requirements in Germany and vice versa. 
There is also a cultural challenge related to the human factor. Though it may seem generational to some, there is a lingering sense that a “wet ink” signature, one that is handwritten on a physical piece of paper at times with the use of colored ink like blue, is more trustworthy and valid than an E-Signature. AIIM Research validates this human challenge. According to a study on how organizations are moving to be less paper intensive in their processes, more than 50% of respondents cite that they print documents solely for the reason of adding a signature. 
This paper presents some of the reasons why users still heavily rely on paper. For many, it is still a lack of trust, comfort and confidence in electronic processes. As is true for most change management challenges, addressing the human element and reluctance to adopt E-Signatures as part of business through education is key. The majority of users are likely to be familiar with the benefits of E-Signing, and also aware that signing on paper is contrary to the goals of digital transformation. The missing component to drive the change up to now is the lack of trust. Trust is created through a series of compelling user experiences. One example might be to sign something of personal importance like a contract for a life insurance. In part, it is the ceremonial gesture and experience that helps to create a confident user experience. 
Early on, E-Signature solutions gained a reputation of being complicated to implement and too complex to use; a perception that remains in the minds of many potential users. This, like with most technologies, can be attributed in large part to too much focus on technology, and too little focus on user education and user experience, causing a lack of trust building. Arguably, these are the reasons why many approaches to introduce E-Signing in Europe failed severely.
Changes and advancements in technology indicate it is time to have a new look at E-Signature options for proof of intent in Europe. The focus of introducing E-Signing should no longer be on replacing handwritten signatures, but rather the focus should be on integrating them into a digital workflow where and when it is possible. The heavy adoption of smartphones and tablets offers additional options to incorporate E-Signing into a process in support of proving intent and create trustworthy E-Signatures.
Finally the legal framework in Europe is reflecting these changes as well. In 2016, we see a significant progress in harmonizing the requirements for E-Signing across Europe. Decision makers interested in starting digital transformation initiatives can select various E-Signing solutions with an appropriate balance of ease of use and provision of security with a proven track record in everyday production on large scale for several years. 

Schlussfolgerung ("Conclusion") des White Paper "E-Signatures in Europe: Understanding the legal requirements for proof of intent":

While E-Signatures are rapidly gaining acceptance and use, and regulations like eIDAS are put in place, there is no one size fits all approach when it comes to E-Signatures in Europe. Regulations are in place to provide guidance and establish a standardized approach to E-Signature use, eliminating confusion and complexity for multinational businesses. eIDAS also serves as the functional requirement for businesses seeking to implement E-Signature technology, with a comfort level that if the solution they choose complies with eIDAS, it complies with the regulations of those countries participating as part of the European Union. It also has an impact on countries with close contractual ties to the European Union like Norway or Switzerland.
Given these regulations take effect July 1, 2016, it is imperative that business organizations take time to learn and understand not only the regulations themselves, but also the impact it will have on how business will be conducted going forward, a) with a solution in place, and b) investigating usage. Those with E-Signature solutions in place today must ensure their solution complies with the new regulations. Those businesses investigating use of E-Signature must ensure the solution they choose support regulatory compliance and can benefit using eIDAS as the basis for their functional requirements in the selection process.

 

AIIM Trendscape: Content Analytics (März 2016)

In dieaser Zusammenfassung gibt John Mancini einen Überblick zum aktuellen Status von Content Analytics. AUch wenn man sich fragt, warum man neben BigData Analytics den Begriff Content Nalytics einführt, sind die Beschreibungen der Hindernisse und die daraus abgeleiteten Lehren durchaus hilfreich. Mancini beschreibt zum Schluss acht Punkte wie man am Besten mit Content Analytics starten sollte.Das 20seitige White Paper kann auf der AIIM-Webseite kostenfrei heruntergeladen werden.

 

 

Inhalt:

• Executive Summary
• 5 Obstacles to content analytics adoption that need to be overcome
• 5 Data Points You Need to Know About Content Analytics
• What You Should Do TODAY: Your Eight Point Content Analytics Action plan
• Research & References
   

Zusammenfassung ("Executive Summary") des White Paper "AIIM Trendscape: Content Analytics":

Deriving meaning and insight from the different forms of content held and managed within most organizations is fast becoming one of the number one challenges and priorities for many in business. AIIM’s June 2015 Industry Watch, Content Analytics: automating processes and extracting knowledge, revealed that six in ten enterprises believe that content analytics will be essential within five years’ time:

"The capacity of computers to recognize meaning in text, sound or images has progressed slowly and steadily over many years, but with the constant arrival of faster computing resources, and the continual refinement of software algorithms, we are in a position where both the speed and the accuracy of recognition can support a wide range of applications."

"In particular, when we add analysis to recognition, we can match up content with rules and policies, detect unusual behavior, spot patterns and trends, and infer emotions and sentiments. Content analytics is a key part of ‘big data’ business intelligence, but it is also driving auto-classification, content remediation and Information Governance, security correction, adaptive case management, and operations monitoring."

That smart content analytics can be of huge value to an organization is clear. But it is equally clear that there are a number of obstacles to content analytics adoption that need to be overcome. At the most recent meeting of AIIM’s think-tank, the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), the following obstacles were identified as particularly pertinent: 

• Definitions of what content analytics actually is are poorly understood and inconsistent.
• There is still too much focus on technology and not enough on business value; who truly are the buyers, influencers and key stakeholders and how are they different from those of yesteryear?
• The pace of technology change is accelerating and running ahead of the ability of organizations to consume it.
• There is an on-going lack of specific use cases to really demonstrate value.
• There is a splintering of data — and data responsibility– in the enterprise.

As with any emerging technology, there has been a wave of content analytics early adopters. The ELC agreed that it was imperative to learn strategic lessons from these early implementers, particularly focusing on:

• Addressing data structure, tagging and permissions as close as possible to the point of creation.
• Defining a clear set of corporate objectives for content analytics initiatives.
• Always remembering that the hardest part of a content analytics project is not the technology.
• Done right, content analytics should drive a rethinking of the questions you ask about your organization.
• Positioning your content analytics initiatives as a means to both enhance customer value AND address information security.

In conclusion, a lot is happening in the world of content analytics, and it is happening very quickly indeed. But organizations must embrace
the changes and the pace at which they are happening, as content analytics takes its place at the heart of many organizations.